Sky Blue Eyes
by towriteinpink
Summary: Aerith reflects alone in the Lifestream, and a familiar pair of arms embrace her. Can you guess who it is? Rated T for mild cursing.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Sky Blue Eyes**

**Prologue**

By: Crystalline Narcissus

**A/N**: Told from **Aerith's POV**. This is my first fic, so don't be **too** hard on me! This is just the introduction, so it's really short. I'm sorry if it's a bit vague, I promise it'll get better.

"You promised to show me the sky, do you remember? I waited, and waited, and waited for you for so long. Days, months, weeks, and even years went by; four years to be exact. Having lived under the plates under the city above, life became even slower for me without you by my side. Daily, I would aimlessly haunt the slums, keeping an eye out for a boy - no, now a man, with sky blue eyes - your eyes. Though I've seen plenty, as all men in SOLDIER exhibit the same otherworldly glow in their eyes, they weren't yours.

Thinking back, I had a feeling that I would never see you again - not in this lifetime, anyway. Back then, I hoped to Gaia that what I felt that day wasn't true. Growing up, my mother always told me that nothing was ever certain (throughout my journey with Cloud and the others, I kept this phrase close to heart), and I hoped that the life force that I felt pass me by, wasn't yours. I began to convince myself, and twist my thoughts around to keep me sane. I began to fool myself and believe that you ran off with another girl, because I'd rather have you alive and be happy somewhere with someone else, than be gone forever. That fabricated lie eventually sank into my brain, and repeating that to myself got me through the days much easier over time. In the back of my mind, though, the truth stung, and it lingered...

Then one day he, Cloud, fell through the roof of my church, the same way you did all those years ago. I felt as if an ice pick just pierced through my heart. He came crashing down, as did the wall I built around my heart all those years without you. The same glow in his eyes and for some reason, your essence, along with it, were present; both were 1st class SOLDIERs, too. My heart began to race. In him, I saw you again. In Cloud, I saw the man whom I've been waiting for."


	2. Chapter 2

Sky Blue Eyes

Chapter 2

By: Crystalline Narcissus

**A/N**: Here's chapter 1 of the story, please enjoy! This scene takes place in Gongaga when Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa visit Zack's parents.

* * *

Looking back, Cloud was a different person, even if he took on your persona, walked like you, and at times, even talked like you. Now, being able to see everything that was transpiring in the world of the living, here in the Lifestream, I can clearly see that you and him are two different people. It's a shame I never got to know the "real" Cloud (Anyway, Tifa already beat me to that). But no matter how different you two are, you both bear similarities in which both of you have big hearts, and have the strong desire to protect others. Maybe it's why I saw you in him, too. I can recall the days when you and I took breaks from building our many flower wagons when you would drop by (although, it was you who mostly did all the work, I just handed you tools and watched), we would sit and talk about everything that happened or was happening in our lives. Angeal, Genesis, Sephiroth (I never met the other two, but unfortunately, Sephiroth and I did). You had a lot of weight on your shoulders then, didn't you? But you kept on smiling, and your smile never faltered nonetheless, despite the burden you carried - which was more than likely heavier than the buster sword that always weighed you down. You always brightened up my mundane life, even when you couldn't brighten up your own.

The more I thought of you, though, I sadder I got. (I'd often space out when Tifa and I would have some 'girl time' when Cloud and the others were off doing their own thing.) 'He's happy with another girl' I would always tell myself; an empty lie, was all that was. I just couldn't accept that you were really gone. (I wore pink everyday along with that dusty old ribbon from many years back, which even now, I keep closest to my heart, hoping that one day, the same dark-haired man will embrace me again.) Just when I thought I was ready to move on, memories of you came charging at me with full speed; reopening wounds that I've mended over the years when I, along with Cloud and the others, arrived at Gongaga. I met your parents, by the way, but my meeting with them wasn't the way I imagined it to be like.

"Hey wait, that glare in your eye...you in SOLDIER?" A tall man in a green sweater and khaki slacks turned his gaze to Cloud, almost immediately as we all stepped foot in the door. He had dark hair that was graying on the sides, with an aura of kindness radiating off him. It reminded me of you. He jolted up out of his seat and walked right up to us, leaving the cup of tea to go cold on the table. His glasses were crooked, and with his index finger, he straightened them out to take a closer look at Cloud. "Oh you're right," a woman, much shorter than he, his wife I'm guessing, walked around the table and began to examine Cloud herself. "Do you know anything about our son?"

"His name is Zack," she continued, "it's been close to 10 years since he left for the city, saying that he didn't want to live in the country..." a pained look crossed her face. "He left saying he's going to join SOLDIER. You ever hear of a Zack in SOLDIER?" My heart started to race, and the room started to spin, and my palms started to sweat profusely, but I held myself together. I felt sick.

"I don't know," Cloud replied, monotone, his expression blank.

_SOLDIER, a country boy, that man - your father that looked so much like you_...it all began to make sense, and I began to well up inside. These people were YOUR parents, and you never came home; everything started hitting me all at once. The feeling of your spirit going back into the Lifestream all those years ago (I couldn't have been wrong about it, I'm sure now. I felt my mother's husband pass, too, when I was a child, the same way you did), the promises that were never fulfilled, our last phone call, our first kiss, the day you crashed through my roof...

"I'll come see you," I heard your last words echo in my head.

"Zack..." I said out loud, my heart breaking, and my eyes beginning to well up.

"Young lady, you know him?" The woman turned to me, concern in her voice, her eyes fixed on me. Her eyes looked so much like yours, I had to look away. "I remember he wrote us 6 or 7 years ago saying that he had a girlfriend. Could that have been you?" I felt Cloud and Tifa's gaze turn to me at once. My heart began to race even faster, and so many emotions overwhelmed me all at once, I wanted to scream! At that moment, I couldn't deny it anymore - the memories I locked away so long ago began to burst, like a whole body of water breaking through a dam. I knew you enough to know that you weren't the type to cut contact with your parents, I knew that meant the world to you.

* * *

"My mom makes the best stew," I remember you telling me, "when I bring you over my place, you'll see!"

We sat together, side by side, on the pews in my old church, my hand slightly brushing against yours. You had just finished a mission, and you were granted some time off.

"Would it be a problem if you brought a girl over?" I asked, curiously, tilting my head slightly to look into your eyes. With the small amount of afternoon sunlight beaming through the broken church roof, shining on your face, your eyes looked even more mesmerizing than they already were.

"Not at all."

"So it's a normal thing that you bring girls over, then?" I said, half teasing, inching closer towards your face. I admit, though, I got jealous at the thought of you having another girl over other than me - past or present.

"Actually, you'll be the first and only girl I'll bring home," you smiled sincerely, your cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

I blushed, too, and my cheeks started to heat up. "Really?"

You let out a soft chuckle at my expression, and leaned in to kiss my forehead. You never failed to make my heart jump. "Yes, really. I'm sure they'll love you," you pulled me into a close embrace. With my face against your chest, I took in your scent and warmth.

I miss you so much.

* * *

"That can't..." I stammered, looking at my boots on the hardwood floor. I couldn't finish my sentence (why won't the damn room stop spinning!), and the tears that formed in my eyes were about ready to trickle down my face. I couldn't hold it in any longer, my wounds reopened just when I thought I'd closed them for good. '_I have to get out of here,_' I thought, '_before I make a fool out of myself._' I wanted to look strong in front of everyone, I didn't want them to see me being weak. Without thought, I quickly faced the door and ran out, tears tricking down my face uncontrollably.

_'You really aren't here anymore, Zack...'_ I thought.


End file.
